Day 301, Year 9: This Way or That Way
Date: Monday, August 18, 2014
Weather: Mostly Sunny, High in the Low 80’s
Location: Staying at Heather and Jed’s, East Falmouth, MA
Mark and I both spent a great deal of today continuing the research and planning for the trip south. Whether to go this way or that way has our heads spinning. There are advantages and disadvantages to each route. And just as you think you have found the way to go, you find yourself saying, “On the other hand.” Fiddler on the Roof is one video we keep on Windbird and now I know why. It is so Tevye can keep reminding us that there just might be another way. What we have learned so far is that it will take us at least two weeks to get from South Carolina to southern Florida using a combination of Intracoastal Waterway and going outside when the weather is favorable. It will then take another month of day sails to get from Miami to the Turks and Caicos south of the Bahamas. And then we still have another 650-700 miles to go—the hardest part of the trip. Different ‘experts’ have different ideas on the best way to go. Going through the islands from Florida through the Bahamas to the eastern Caribbean hasn’t been called “The Thorny Path” for nothing and the recent article in Cruising World entitled “A Path Without Prickles” hasn’t convinced me that there is such a thing. You can just go offshore from South Carolina and arrive in Puerto Rico ten days or so later. You might be a bit battered and bruised if the weather turns on you, but you have saved yourself at least a month of travel time. On the other hand . . . you miss the Bahamas. Here we go again. Lucky me to have to make such decisions.
Have you ever had a bee try to fly up your nose? Well, I have now had this experience. I really don’t know if it was a bee or a wasp, but what I know is that I was out in the bee garden filling the bird bath when an unfriendly critter started buzzing around my head. I thought it would go away, but it kept buzzing, sounding angrier and angrier. When I got to the back deck, it was still with me and I attempted to swat it away so it wouldn’t go inside with me. That was a mistake and it ramped up the buzz. I stepped into the kitchen and it followed, so I hurried back out and that is when this friendly creature tried to fly up my nose. I panicked and tried to stop it causing it to sting me right at the base of my nose. Ouch! Did that ever hurt. Mark got the stinger out, but I had a numb nose and numb front teeth for hours. In fact, they still don’t feel quite right. What a weird experience!
